Han Li was quite taken aback to hear everyone's furious reactions, and he hurriedly communicated to the Essence Fire Raven through their spiritual connection, "Didn't I tell you not to take everything and leave some behind for them?"

However, he received no response from the Essence Fire Raven. It had been quite groggy ever since it devoured the Nine Sun Fire Stone, and it seemed like it still hadn't returned to normal yet.

Han Li could only shake his head in a resigned manner, then slumped to the ground, pretending to be hurt.

Moments later, Yu Kuohai and the others emerged from the palace with disgruntled expressions before arriving by Han Li's side.

"Are you alright, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Elder Yang asked.

"I'm fine, it's just some external injuries," Han Li replied as he splayed open his charred hands.

"How is this possible? The restrictions were clearly intact, yet there was nothing inside!" Valley Master Fu grumbled.

"Well done, Fellow Daoist Shi. We may not have found anything here, but I'm sure there are plenty of precious treasures waiting for us further up ahead," Yu Kuohai said as he helped Han Li up from the ground.

"Thank you," Han Li replied in a grateful manner.

After taking a short rest here, everyone continued onward, encountering several more buildings, all of which had their restrictions unraveled by Han Li. All of the most precious treasures in those buildings were naturally taken by Han Li, but he made sure to leave some behind for everyone else.

Several days flew by in a flash.

At this moment, Han Li's group was standing at the entrance of a gray canyon.

The canyon was filled with mist, and an enormous gray pagoda could be seen in the distance, standing like a pillar that supported the heavens.

Yu Kuohai was ecstatic at the sight of the pagoda, and he immediately urged everyone to speed up.

Before long, they arrived in front of the pagoda, which was rather antiquated in design and dozens of kilometers in size. In terms of the area that it occupied, it was comparable to the mountains around it, but it was far taller than all of the nearby mountains, reaching all the way up into the clouds.

A series of gray lightning designs had been engraved onto the pagoda, and arcs of gray lightning occasionally sprang out from within, causing the nearby space to tremble violently.

At the very top of the pagoda was a huge golden flame that was burning as radiantly as the sun.

However, it was also rather illusory in appearance, as if it existed in an alternate space that was completely out of reach.

Upon arriving at the pagoda, the excitement felt by Yu Kuohai and the others instantly evaporated.

As it turned out, there were already many people gathered in front of the pagoda.

"Looks like we're late to the party," Yu Kuohai harrumphed in a disgruntled manner.

Han Li paid no heed to the crowd up ahead as he cast his gaze toward the golden flame at the top of the pagoda.

He could sense hints of time law power fluctuations within the fire, but they seemed to have been restricted by something, and if it wasn't for Han Li's heightened sensitivity to time law powers, he wouldn't have been able to detect them at all.

"Let's go. Fellow Daoist Shi, if you're scared of causing trouble, then make sure to be careful with your words and actions here," Yu Kuohai cautioned, and Han Li hurriedly nodded in response.

At this point, almost the entire alliance had already gathered in front of the gray pagoda.

Lei Yuce, Su Anqian, and the leaders of several other major powers were currently gathered in front of a tightly shut stone gate at the foot of the pagoda, above which was a plaque that read "Eon Pagoda".

The stone gate was dark gray in color, and it was also riddled with lightning patterns that released a formidable, gray lightning barrier.

At this moment, Lei Yuce, Su Anqian, and the others seemed to be discussing something among themselves.

On the way here, Han Li had gathered a lot of information by playing dumb and asking questions, so he had compiled decent profiles on Lei Yuce and the others.

The arrival of the Spirit Heaven Sect, Blazing Light City, and Azure Lock Valley cultivators didn't attract much attention. Most of the people gathered in front of the pagoda merely took a glance at them before turning their attention back to the pagoda.

At this moment, the Lan siblings were standing together in a discreet corner of the crowd.

"This must be where the most precious treasures left behind Immortal Lord Tai Sui are being held," Lan Yuanzi said as he looked up at the pagoda with a fervent look in his eyes.

Even though the siblings' mission was to capture Han Li, they naturally didn't want to pass up such a massive opportunity.

"The lightning on this pagoda seems to be very formidable. Do you recognize this lightning?" Lan Yan asked with a curious expression.

"It seems to be some type of yin lightning. I don't know much about lightning, so..."

All of a sudden, Lan Yuanzi's voice trailed off here, and his expression suddenly changed slightly as he flipped a hand over to produce a blue mirror, the surface of which was currently flashing incessantly.

Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, and the former exclaimed, "It's Han Li!"

Meanwhile, the time law powers in Han Li's body suddenly rippled slightly, as if it had just been stirred up slightly by something.

Someone's using a sensory immortal treasure to track me!

As soon as he arrived at this realization, he immediately channeled his Myriad Acupoint Tranquility Technique to seal off all of his immortal acupoints. At the same time, he channeled his Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra, and the five distinct time law powers in his body intertwined with each other to form a seal deep within his body, keeping his immortal spiritual power completely contained.

As a time-attribute cultivation art of the highest caliber, not only was the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra extremely powerful, it also granted the user exceptional aura concealment abilities.

Now that Han Li had reached the pinnacle of the High Zenith Stage, he was gradually beginning to capitalize on the alternative uses of the Great Five Elemental Illusion Mantra.

All of a sudden, the blue mirror in Lan Yuanzi's hand stopped flashing, and it reverted back into a normal mirror.

A surprised look appeared on Lan Yuanzi's face upon seeing this, following which he composed himself before stowing the mirror away.

"What happened? Was it a false alarm?" Lan Yan asked with slightly furrowed brows.

"No, Han Li must've detected that someone's trying to track him, so he concealed his own aura. It seems like he's very alert," Lan Yuanzi replied with a grim expression.

"How is that possible? The Heavenly Detection Mirror was given to us by our master, and even Great Encompassment cultivators aren't guaranteed to be able to avoid its detection," Lan Yan exclaimed.

"This just tells us that this Han Li is no ordinary High Zenith cultivator. Having said that, at least we now know that Han Li is currently nearby," Lan Yuanzi said as he began scouring his gaze through the crowd.

"You're right! That group of people that just arrived are very suspicious. The Heavenly Detection Mirror immediately registered a reaction as soon as they arrived, so there's a very good chance that Han Li is among them," Lan Yan said as she cast her gaze toward Han Li's group.

"That is indeed very likely, but we can't just completely ignore everyone else, either," Lan Yuanzi replied with a contemplative expression.

Lan Yan nodded in response, and she was just about to approach Han Li's group for a closer look, only to be stopped by Lan Yuanzi.

"Don't make any rash moves. Right now, we're unable to confirm Han Li's identity, and he most likely hasn't discovered us, either. What we have to do now is engage him in a battle of attrition and observation. I'm sure he won't be able to conceal his own aura forever!"

A look of admiration appeared on Lan Yan's face as he said, "There's no way he'll be able to get away from you, Brother. If he hands himself over to us now, that'll spare us the trouble of having to find him!"

......

Who's trying to track me? Qi Mozi? That feels unlikely. If he had this tracking method up his sleeve, then he would've used it long ago. Who else could it be? Could it be that the Lan siblings of the Nine Origins Temple?

Han Li's mind was racing as he discreetly scanned his gaze over the surrounding crowd.

All of a sudden, his gaze settled on a certain young man, following which he quickly looked away again to avoid attracting the attention of the subject of his observation.

That young man was none other than Xiong Shan, and at this moment, he was standing with a group of itinerant cultivators at the edge of the crowd.

Even though Han Li had only caught a brief glimpse of the young man back at the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, he was certain that it was the same person.

Why is it that he seems so familiar to me? Who is he? On top of that, if he's here, then Qi Mozi must be here as well. Could it be that it really was Qi Mozi that was trying to track me just now?

Upon arriving at the realization that Qi Mozi was present, Han Li immediately became more apprehensive.

Even though he had reached the pinnacle of the High Zenith Stage, he still wasn't confident in his own ability to match up against Qi Mozi, considering he was a Great Encompassment cultivator who had also mastered the laws of time.

On top of that, there was a chance that Lan siblings from the Nine Origins Temple were also here, and if that were the case, then that would only further compound his woes.

Right as Han Li was weighing up his options, Yu Kuohai's trio made their way to the entrance of the giant pagoda.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, how did things go on your end?" Lei Yuce asked.

"Almost all of the places that we passed through had already been completely looted!" Yu Kuohai replied in a hateful voice.

"Don't be disheartened, Fellow Daoist Yu. The restrictions here are still intact, so the treasures inside this Eon Pagoda are most likely still inside. However, the Thousand Integration Yin Lightning Array on the gate is not going to be easy to bypass. Do any of you have good ideas?" Lei Yuce asked.

Yu Kuohai's trio exchanged a glance with each other, following which Valley Master Gu said, "None of us can even hold a candle to your expertise when it comes to breaking restrictions, Fellow Daoist Shi. If you've already identified the restriction on the gate, then I'm sure you have a plan on how to break it, right?"

"I do have an idea in mind, but I'm going to require everyone's assistance," Lei Yuce replied with a smile.

"Not a problem, go ahead and tell us what we need to do, Fellow Daoist Shi," Yu Kuohai declared.

A pleased look flashed through Lei Yuce's eyes, and he began, "In that case, please..."

A discussion that lasted close to an hour took place before the group dispersed to gather helpers, and in the end, close to a hundred people were assembled for the purposes of setting up an elaborate array on the ground in front of the pagoda.